


Dr Kaysani Will See You Now

by Kyra_Bane



Series: 30 Day OTP Challenge [4]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Hand Jobs, M/M, Mission Fic, POV Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Pretending to Be Strangers, Undercover, these boys are so Soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyra_Bane/pseuds/Kyra_Bane
Summary: To protect a client, it's Joe's turn to go undercover – as Dr Kaysani. Helps that he's the only one of them with a medical degree. Then Nicky arrives, proving himself to be a distraction not only to Joe, but to all the other nurses on staff. Still, they both know they have to keep their minds on the mission. Once it's over, they can do whatever they want.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: 30 Day OTP Challenge [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894534
Comments: 31
Kudos: 432





	Dr Kaysani Will See You Now

**Author's Note:**

> Wah, so this was going to be up yesterday and then there was like a whole work ~thing~ that meant I was up until 4am so here it is today instead! 
> 
> Also, although the prompt was 'hospital visits' I managed to come up with something wayyyyy less depressing than my original ideas. Yay!

“Have you seen his _eyes?”_ Joe hears. He’s staring down at the chart in front of him, though he’s not focusing on it right now. There are two nurses to his right, Clara and Laurel, and Joe finds himself suddenly incredibly interested in what they have to say.

“I know,” Laurel hisses back. She’s checking a patient’s chart and Joe knows, despite the gossiping, she is being thorough. “And that accent. God. It should be illegal to be that hot.”

Joe schools his expression, though his lips threaten to twitch. He tries to focus on the chart again. Everything looks fine, he thinks.

“I think he’s gay,” Clara says finally, resolutely, and the two women share a sympathetic sigh. They’re silent for a while, for too long, and when Joe gives in and looks up, they’re staring right at _him._

“Can I help you?” he asks. It’s said with good humour.

“You’re single, right, Dr Kaysani?” Laurel asks.

Joe nods. He knows where this is going and he hopes the smile he’s fighting back isn’t in his eyes.

“Yes,” he says. He puts the chart back where it belongs, pulls out another. “And while I’m flattered, I think you are perhaps a little young for me.”

Laurel giggles, cheeks pinking a little even as she shakes her head. She’s engaged, he knows, but he knows she’ll also take it for the joke it is.

“No,” Clara says. “Have you seen the new nurse? He just started this morning.”

“Not yet,” Joe replies.

Clara and Laurel look at each other and nod – but as Clara opens her mouth again, Dr Li rounds the corner, eyes narrowing when she sees them standing there.

“There are patients to attend to, ladies,” she says and they both jump almost comically before grabbing their paperwork and scurrying away.

Joe smiles at her but she doesn’t return it. He doesn’t take it personally; he has yet to see her smile and the situation, as it is, does not exactly warrant it.

“You really shouldn’t distract them,” she says, flipping through one file and then the next before she looks up at him.

Joe shrugs. “It is hardly my fault that my mere presence is a distraction.”

That still doesn’t get a smile, but it does get him a look and what he thinks is almost a roll of her eyes. “Between you and your boyfriend,” Li says in a low voice, “No one around here is going to get any work done today.”

“Husband,” Joe corrects, though, as ever, even that word isn’t quite the one he wants to use. “And do not worry too much. We will be gone soon, of that I am certain.”

He doesn’t mean to bring the crease back to her brow but the words do anyway and when she sees her hands are shaking, she puts down her pen.

“You’ve heard something?”

“Yes.”

There’s a pause as another nurse passes them, almost too close for comfort. The ward is quiet, murmurs of voices drifting down the hall.

“We think today or maybe tomorrow,” Joe says finally. He wouldn’t usually tell the person they were protecting that danger is imminent – unnecessary worry can lead to panicked complications, after all. But Li is a doctor, and Joe knows that she's smart enough to figure something has changed to warrant Nicky's arrival.

She takes a deep breath, holds it, lets it out again. When she looks up at him again, there is steel in her gaze. “Alright,” she says. “Let me know, if–“

“I will.”

Like that, the quiet is broken as another nurse walks by with a patient, as a visitor comes onto the ward. Joe puts back the chart he's holding and goes to see his next patient.

***

Technically, Joe's the only one who has a medical degree, though he, Nicky, Andy, and Booker all know more than enough about medicine anyway. He and Booker both attended medical school at one time or another – both searching for something, Joe thinks.

Booker goes first, in the mid-twentieth century, and flunks out in his second semester.

Joe waits until the late nineties and sails through.

It helps, of course, that there isn't a sight that can faze him. He's broken all of his own bones, sliced off skin, torn muscles– And between the four of them, they've all managed to injure themselves in just about every way that is humanly possible.

And then, of course, in some ways that aren't.

There's an advantage, too, in having lived a life as long as he has. Joe finds it easy to deal with his patients, to put them at ease and help placate their worries. When he tells Nicky this, Nicky argues that it isn't an _immortal_ thing, it's a _Joe_ thing and Joe isn't sure it's fair to say he's the romantic one of the two of them.

Aside from that, he simply has to consolidate his knowledge. He knows he's helping people, for once can truly see it beneath his hands.

He graduates in the early 2000s and he and Nicky stay in the same place for a few years, trying their hands at a bout of domesticity.

That's all uprooted, of course, when Andy returns to tell them about a job, one that Joe can't refuse, but he's glad to play this role again, if only for a little while.

Copley has made some changes to his degree, tweaking the graduation date, the school, and Joe spent his nights before this mission reading about heart disease, making sure he’s ready for what lies ahead.

Nicky has never trained as a nurse but Copley deals with the logistics of that – and while Joe was learning, Nicky was too. Besides, he is mostly here to keep an eye out for whoever it is trying to kill Dr Li, so Joe isn’t all that worried about that.

They meet out in the corridor. Nicky is with Laurel, who’s laughing at something he just said, and Joe tries to tone down his smile as he approaches them, tries to pretend Nicky is a stranger.

“Dr Kaysani!” Laurel says. He puts his chart on the counter and smiles at her. “This is the new nurse I was telling you about, Nico.”

Joe looks at Nicky, smiles, and when Nicky smiles back, a spark of amusement in his eyes, Joe has to suppress the laughter that tries to bubble up. Instead, he sticks out his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nico.”

Nicky’s hand is warm, firm. He’s been here a few hours but doesn’t look tired yet and there’s no indication he’s seen anything suspicious either.

“The pleasure is all mine, doctor.” He’s putting on his accent a little; it curls around his words tightly. Joe swallows and, after a long moment, takes his hand back.

Laurel is looking between them like she’s watching a tennis match but Nicky turns back to her, offers her a wide smile. “You were going to take me to lunch?” he asks and when something in her expression changes, Joe almost wants to laugh.

She’s young, and not subtle, but he really doesn’t mind her interference.

“Oh, actually, I’ve just realised that I’m supposed to be looking in on one of Dr Li’s patients. But Dr Kaysani should be having lunch now, I’m sure he can show you where to go!”

She knows Joe has a soft heart, too, which he somehow likes about her.

Nicky looks at him. His eyebrow twitches, like he wants to raise it but then thought better of the move.

“It would be a pleasure,” Joe says. “Let me just finish this file and I’ll be right with you.”

Laurel leaves with a grin and Nicky leans back against the counter. He’s so close to Joe that he’s almost a distraction – not usual for a job. But then, their jobs rarely have them pretending they don’t know each other.

“Why’d they send you?” Joe asks after a moment, in their old mix of languages, Arabic and Genoese, so at least no one will understand if they do overhear.

Nicky looks at him sideways. “Nile isn’t trained. Andy thinks Copley has a lead.”

“So they’re…?”

Nicky nods. A nurse passes by and Joe signs off the chart, puts it where it belongs. “Shall we?”

***

The canteen is busy and Joe helps Nicky get his lunch. They sequester themselves in a corner, Joe seated so he can see the room, Nicky so that–

Well, they’d have to go through him, wouldn’t they?

“The nurses are desperate to set us up with each other,” Joe says, stabbing some salad with his fork. Hospital food, it turns out, is as dire for the staff as the patients.

Nicky reaches over with his fork and steals a slice of cucumber. “Too bad they’re a millennium late,” he murmurs. “Though I like you in this outfit.”

Joe looks down at himself. Suit trousers, a shirt and a white coat over the top. It’s not exactly anything exciting.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I am not,” Nicky replies. “I just like you in any outfit.”

They exchange stupid grins, just as a shadow falls over their table.

Dr Li. She sits down and Nicky looks between them. “Should I go?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “Sorry. I just thought I might be, that is–“

“You are safe, here,” Joe replies. He’s pretty sure the hospital is safe, especially since they're both here with her, but he's also spent the last couple of weeks in an apartment not far from Dr Li's house.

“Thank you,” she says. The three of them fall into silence as they eat, though after a moment, Li looks up at them.

“Half of the nurses on our ward think you two are on a date, you know.”

Joe meets Nicky’s gaze. “They aren't far off.”

***

Nicky is on the same shift pattern as Joe, same as Li, and when they’re finished that evening, Li offers to drive Joe back to his apartment. Nicky drove his motorbike in this morning so he gets in the lift with them, shoulders bumping against Joe's companionably.

They make it to the parking structure and, as they get out of the lift, Joe freezes. All the hairs on the back of his neck are on end and Nicky’s already spotted it, is already ushering Dr Li into the back corner.

“What is it?” she hisses and Joe doesn’t hear Nicky reply. He steps out of the lift and starts walking across the garage. There’s a gun in his jacket so he reaches for it, acts like he’s looking for his phone.

A shadow moves behind a car to his left but Joe keeps walking, slowing down rather than speeding up. He hopes Nicky and Li are back in the building, back where it’s safe–

Another shadow moves and Joe ducks, a bullet flying through the air above his head. He runs for cover behind a car as the shooting starts – there must be three of them, and then he sees two heading for the lift, corrects that to five.

One goes down when he lifts his head to sight Joe just a little too long; Joe takes the second out at the knees and then he’s moving, looking for the third. The two goons over at the lift are trying to pry the doors open, which isn’t good – it means Nicky hasn’t gone back into the hospital, though Joe is sure he’s armed.

The third surprises him, is closer than he expected, and when he shoots Joe in the shoulder, Joe just lets out a grunt of annoyance. He _really_ didn’t want to get shot today. He whirls around and gets his assailant right between the eyes. The body hits the concrete with a thud.

The doors to the lift are creaking open, but Nicky is on them, pushes both their attackers back, though he gets a bullet to the side, too, for his efforts. Dr Li is pressed back in the furthest corner and when one of the men gets in, reaches for her, Joe is on him, drags him back out and throws him to the floor. Nicky has the other in a headlock. He knees him in the stomach, divests him of his gun, and then the last of the attackers are on the ground panting, Nicky and Joe standing over them.

Nicky looks, sharply, at the patch of red on Joe’s shoulder. It’s already healed.

“Which one shot you, habibi?” Nicky asks, voice cold as ice and the two men before them have the good sense to look scared.

“He’s dead,” Joe returns. “What about you?”

Nicky moves; he’s not quite healed yet, Joe can tell, but he’s almost there.

“That one,” he says, pointing to the one on the left.

Joe nods. “Take the doctor home,” he says.

Nicky hands him the gun, kisses him soundly and then he’s ushering Dr Li past the men and to her car. Joe calls Andy, tells her what’s happened. They’ve gone rogue, Andy says, and if he puts them down then Li is safe.

“Why did you come here?” Joe asks when he hangs up the call. One of the men is silent, but the other – the one who shot Nicky – all but growls.

“She just thought she could fuckin’ leave and we’d let her,” he spits. “She thought she was–“

“She’s doing some good,” Joe says because, knowing what he already does about Dr Li, her background, he doesn’t need to know more. “And that’s something you should have thought of doing before you came here tonight.”

He fires, twice, and then finds Nicky’s motorbike among the cars. It’s the work of a couple of minutes to hotwire it and drive it out of there and he sends Andy the all-clear text before he leaves so Copley can come and clean up their mess.

Nicky is waiting for him at the apartment.

“How is she?” Joe asks.

“She cried all the way home,” Nicky says. “I drove. She doesn’t believe it is over.”

“Andy says it is. We’ll stick around here a few more days, I think.”

Nicky hums in agreement and Joe shrugs off his jacket, pulling a face at the damage to his shirt. “I liked this one,” he laments.

He turns but Nicky is already there, fingers nimble on the buttons. Joe doesn’t fight him as he unbuttons his shirt all the way, pushes it from his shoulders. There’s blood still smeared on his skin, but his shoulder is healed, whole.

Ever since Merrick, they’ve taken to checking each other over more carefully after an injury. It’s not the torture – that’s something that has happened before and Joe has no illusions about the fact that it may well happen again.

It’s Andy.

They weren’t around the last time; have never seen someone come out the other side of this state. It’s humbling and terrifying that they will die someday, too, and will not just get back up again.

Well, terrifying to Joe. Nicky seems at peace with the whole idea, though he knows his beloved would change his mind if Joe went first.

For now, he’s skimming his lips down Joe’s throat, over his collarbone, his shoulder.

“Hmm,” Joe says, “This doesn’t seem like the most professional exam, nurse.”

Nicky snorts a laugh against his skin. “Unsurprising, as I have never trained as a nurse in my life.”

Joe turns his attention to Nicky, even as Nicky turns his head and sucks on Joe’s pulse point. His t-shirt is tacky, sticking to his skin, but underneath he’s healed and moans when Joe drags his fingernails over where the wound should be.

“I missed you,” Nicky says and suddenly they’re pressed together tight and Nicky’s fingers are in his hair.

“It’s only been a few days, hayati,” Joe says. They’ve spent decades apart, before, though even he has to admit that hasn’t been true for the last few centuries. Still.

“I know,” Nicky replies. “But I–“ He chews on his lip, doesn’t appear to know what to say. Joe wonders if it’s the same thing he feels; to be apart now hurts more, makes him worry that someone might snatch Nicky up and not give him back.

Their lips meet in a bruising kiss and Nicky holds Joe’s head in place as he devours his mouth. Joe pushes down Nicky’s sweatpants, grabs at his ass and when their cocks grind together, even though Joe is still clothed, he lets out a moan.

“Bed, cuore mio,” Nicky pants into the space between their mouths. “We are too old for this.”

Joe snorts – Nicky fucked him over the kitchen counter of an apartment they were staying in less than two weeks ago – but he can’t argue when Nicky’s manhandling him like this, pushing him through into the bedroom.

The bed is crumpled, unmade, because Nicky’s the one who always makes it and Joe kisses Nicky’s brow when he laughs at the sight.

“So helpless,” he says and Joe laughs back and then they’re kissing again. Nicky sucks Joe’s bottom lip into his mouth, slides his tongue alongside Joe’s and Joe melts in his arms, clings on for dear life.

They tumble onto the bed, a tangle of limbs, unwilling to separate even to remove the rest of their clothes. Joe grinds his hips down, doing his best to suck a mark onto Nicky's neck that will last longer than a few seconds. Nicky's fingers dig into Joe's back, his sides, and his thighs are spread apart so Joe fits into the cradle of his hips.

Joe groans when Nicky's hands travel lower, then huffs out a laugh when he pulls ineffectually at Joe's belt. Joe lifts his head, delighted at the sight his beloved makes beneath him. He's lust-drunk, eyes hazy, and yet the smile that spreads across his face when their gazes meet warms Joe's soul. 

He is not sure what he did to get this lucky, to find this man, but he is thankful for him every day.

"Up," Nicky says and Joe pushes himself up with a groan, gets to work on his own belt as Nicky finally pulls his t-shirt over his head. His sweatpants join the growing pile of clothes on the floor and Joe pauses at the button on his trousers, takes a moment just to _look._

Nicky snorts at whatever the expression is Joe's wearing, reaches out and bats his hands away. "You are too distractible, hayati," he says. He makes quick work of Joe's trousers, then his briefs, and Joe steps out of them, into Nicky's arms.

"How could I not be distracted?" he says, brushes his lips down the column of Nicky's throat, over his collarbone, against his shoulder. "I have the most beautiful man in the world in my arms."

Nicky pauses for a moment, muscles tensing before he pushes Joe onto the bed again, stalks over him in a way that sends a thrill up Joe's spine.

"In the world?" he says when they're face-to-face. "Really, Yusuf?"

Joe grins, hooks a leg around Nicky's waist and pulls him down. Nicky's breath hitches as their cocks rub together and Joe is shameless about it, grinds his hips up again until Nicky moans.

"You think in a millennium I have seen no other men? You outshine all of them, habibi. No one even comes close."

Pink scatters across Nicky's nose and he reaches between them, wraps his hand around Joe's cock. "If I didn't know better, I would think you liked me only for my looks." He sets a slow pace but Joe is ready for this, ready for _him_ and he feels incredibly close embarrassingly fast.

"I love you for your heart, Nicolò," he gasps out, and pushes up so he's sitting, sliding one hand into Nicky's hair. "You are the kindest, most generous, most honourable–"

Nicky kisses him, moves his hand faster and Joe whines into it, reaches for Nicky in turn. He wants everything, tonight, but they have time enough and this– This is urgent, and a little messy, and just perfect.

Nicky pulls away from the kiss, ducks his head and bites at Joe's throat and Joe cries out, comes in hot streaks between them. He's held through it, Nicky watching him with soft eyes even though he's still hard in Joe's hand. 

Joe leans forward, resting their foreheads together as he moves his hand faster, murmuring all the sweetest words he can think of into the space between their mouths. Nicky's brow is furrowed, his eyes closed, and Joe's heart is so, _so_ full.

"Come for me, Nicolò," he murmurs and Nicky's eyes shoot open at the coaxing in his voice, whole body tensing as he, too, spills between them.

Later, after they've both caught their breath, after Joe has cleaned them up and Nicky has pulled the bedding into some semblance of order, Joe is draped across Nicky's chest, fingers roaming aimlessly over where the bullet had met his beloved's skin. Nicky's hand strokes through his hair almost absentmindedly. In moments like this, Joe can almost forget about the day they've had, about the days they still have to come.

He knows, in this moment, nothing but peace.

"I love you," he says, turning his head, and places a kiss over Nicky's heart.

Nicky's eyes are closed but he smiles and tightens his grip, just for a second. "And I you," he replies. 

Joe lets his eyes close, too, and the moment stretches out around them.

**Author's Note:**

> 30 Day OTP Challenge - 4. Hospital Visits
> 
> Kudos and comments, as usual, are welcome and appreciated!


End file.
